She stopped, but Charnock understood.  Keller was often ill and was getting old.  He could not carry on his rapidly extending business much longer, and Charnock might presently take his place.  But this was not all, and he hesitated.

“Do you think I’m fit for the job?” he asked.

“You could do it if you tried.”

Charnock smiled.  “It’s comforting to feel somebody trusts me, and I see advantages in the plan.  You keep the books, I think.  It’s very nice in the little back office when the lamps are lit and the store is shut.  We could make up the bills together.”

Sadie blushed, and he thought he had not seen her look so attractive.  She was remarkably pretty, although there was now something about her that puzzled him.  It was something elusive that acted like a barrier, keeping him away.  Yet he knew the girl was fond of him; if he wanted her, he had but to ask, and it was not on this account he hesitated.  He thought of a creeper-covered house in England; a house that had an air of quiet dignity.  He remembered the old silver, the flowers in the shady rooms, and the pictures.  The girl who moved about the rooms harmonized with her surroundings; her voice was low and clear, she had a touch of stateliness.  Well, he was ruined, and she was far away, but Sadie was close by, waiting for him.  For a moment he set his lips, and then, while his nerves tingled, banished the disturbing doubts.

Dropping the paddle, he leaned forward, put his hand on the girl’s waist, and drew her towards him.  He felt her yield, and heard her draw a fluttering breath.  Her head drooped so that he could not see her face; she was slipping into his arms, and then, in the moment of surrender, he felt her body stiffen.  She put her hands on his shoulder and pushed him back; the canoe lurched and he had some trouble to prevent a capsize.  The water splashed against the rocking craft, and Sadie, drawing away, fixed her eyes on him.  She was breathless, but rather from emotion than effort.

“Don’t do that again!” she said.

Charnock saw she meant it, which was strange.  Sadie knew and sometimes used her power of attraction, but it was obvious that she was angry.  It looked as if he had chosen the wrong moment, and he felt worse baffled and disappointed than he had thought possible.

“I won’t,” he said as carelessly as he could.  “You nearly threw us both into the water.”

“I guess that’s what I meant to do,” she answered fiercely.

“Well, I expect I’d have been able to pull you out.  Suppose I ought to say I’m sorry; but I’m not.  In fact, Sadie, I don’t quite understand—­”

“No,” she said, “you don’t understand at all!  That’s the trouble.”

Charnock took out his tobacco pouch and began to make a cigarette.  Sadie’s cold dignity was something new and he thought she could not keep it up.  If she did not break out in passionate anger, she would soon come round.  As he finished the cigarette she turned to him with flashing eyes.